We’ve all seen replicas of our favorite comic book character’s costumes, but this one is something else. Inspired by the suit seen in Iron Man 2, the Iron Man Mark V Briefcase Armour is unique because it transforms from a briefcase into a fully-detailed, functional suit of armor.

Okay, so when we say “briefcase,” we really mean large, irregular-shaped bag, but the creator, Ryan Brooks, or as he calls himself, the Real Tony Stark, had good intentions. He said it was a “little larger” than he had anticipated, which is due to the leg armor and its space requirements. It holds together well though, and weighs a total of 25 lbs.

The backside of the briefcase shows the foil tubing, which becomes the back of the knees. The handle can’t actually support any weight, but it’s really the only evidence left that this is an actual briefcase. The handle splits and rotates to fit onto the back of each boot.

A costume like this isn’t a something you can whip up in a weekend. The suit took over 1,200 hours of work. Brooks used more than 4,000 LEGO Technic pieces; 483 individual pieces of high-impact polystyrene plastic armor, which he heat-formed individually by hand; 4 coats of paint; 145 magnets; and so much more. Brooks lists every single material, so you can hypothetically recreate the suit if you have that much time on your hands.

It’s not just a suit, though. It also has built-in glowing eyes, a lighted arc reactor, and creates sound effects using an Arduino Lilypad, among other things.

The costume was so good it took “Best in Show” at Toronto Comic Con 2011. You can view the full photo gallery, which explains the entire process in depth.